Several wildlife NGOs yesterday appealed to the prime minister to not serve shark fin at any and all state events.
The call came after Prayuth Chan-o-cha and his government came under fire for hosting a banquet to shore up his political support at which shark fin soup was served to attendees last week, one day ahead of Thai Environment Day.
“Sharks are vital to the balance of the ocean’s ecosystem and we need to realize that before it’s too late. I urge everyone to say no to shark fin and all shark-related menus, and help protect the oceans by making #NoSharkFin #ฉลองไม่ฉลาม the new norm for all occasions,” WildAid celebrity spokesman Nawat Kulrattanarak said in a statement.
Meanwhile, responding to the backlash over the controversial soup, Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-o-cha said he was too busy during the banquet to realize shark fin was being served.
“During that banquet for the pro-government coalition, I didn’t eat anything at all, so I didn’t know shark fin was being served. I didn’t eat anything because I was too busy talking… I was very hungry when I got home,” he told Khaosod.
“Next time, I won’t let anyone eat shark fin anymore. We’ll eat small fish, like ricefish, instead,” the ever-so-sassy PM added.
Harvesting shark fins is notoriously cruel and involves slicing them from living sharks which are then abandoned to drown or be consumed by other predators because they can no longer swim.
Shark finning also causes much harm to the marine ecosystem, depleting and endangering shark populations. An estimated 100 million sharks are killed every year while fins from up to 73 million end up in soup.
In Thailand they are commonly served at official functions and social events such as weddings, particularly in the Chinese-Thai community. Last week, Prayuth hosted a come-to-Jesus gathering for members of his shaky coalition after six parliamentarians defected to support an opposition motion calling for an investigation into his actions as junta chief between May 2014 and July 2019.
“Sponsored consumption of shark fin by the Thai government is directly contributing to the endangerment of shark species, and the marine environment – in Asia and beyond,” reads the NGOs’ open letter to Prayuth.
It added that China – where shark fin soup is widely popular – banned shark fin soup at all official functions in 2013, with Hong Kong quickly following suit.
Your move, Prayuth.
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